Chicken Enchilada Casserole with Cauliflower

Just letting you know that this low carb, Fiesta-in-a-dinner is sponsored by my friends over at Danskin Now!

This healthy chicken enchilada casserole tastes like your favorite Mexican dish, but is made with cauliflower so it’s low carb and under 300 calories! It’s a gluten free, weeknight meal that everyone will love!

Except with a little south-o-the-border spin because I saw your taste buds responded to that Mexican Zucchini Lasagna, in the sense that you WERE OBSESSED.

Which leads me to believe that anything with a little spicy-chili, sizzlin’ cumin, creamy avocado, juicy bursts of fresh tomato and ALL. THE. CHEESE is a major win your book of “things I want to eat for dinner forever and ever the end.”

So cauliflower casserole. IE cauliflower that is boiled until super-soft and tender and then blended until thick and all together AMAZINGLY DELICIOUSLY COMFORT-FOOD-LIKE CREAMINESSS, and then tossed around with other flavors to add a little pizazz and UMPH when it enters your hungry mouth.

In this case “pizzazz and UMPH” are the Mexican flavors of L-O-V-E and deliciousness that are usually carb-laden and generally not-so-good-for-you, but THIS TIME? Healthy chicken enchilada VIBES friends.

January is kinda the month where the “NEW YEAR! NEW YOU!” message is being sent out HARD to all of us people just trying to get by with who we ALREADY ARE. I can barely figure out what’s going on in my current brain, let alone try to make it a NEW ONE, you know?

BUT, small changes can be made. I know a lot of you internet friends are looking to try a little low-carb change-up this year, and I did NOT want that to equal not being able to eat ALL of your favorite eats…like enchiladas.

I think we can all agree that a life without enchiladas is no life AT. ALL.

When was the last time your brain told you that enchiladas = perfect post workout meal?

Exactly.

Hey not-able-to-eat-dairy friends out there, this casserole is still super tasty without the cheese! Since, Mr. FFF can’t do the cheese dance, I had to leave it off his portion when testing the recipe. He still gave it a gold star. #Staremoji

I can’t confirm or deny that I just used his cheese to make mine EXTRA ooey-gooey.

Hint: I did.

Having a dairy-free hubs has some perks.

Bonus points that turn our vegetal-casserole-delight into the MVP of the dinner game: it tastes JUST AS YUM the next day.

HELLO meal prep friends of the universe – this one goes right out to Y-O-U.

So whip it up. Heck, whip it up TWICE the size, and enjoy a tasty Tex-Mex sensation ALL WEEK LONG.

For garnish:

Instructions

Fill a medium pot with water, as well as large pot. Add a pinch of salt to each and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce each pot's heat to medium and place the chicken in the medium pot and the cauliflower florets into the large pot, covering just the cauliflower pot with a lid. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink and the cauliflower is fork tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Once the chicken is cooked, transfer to a plate to cool. Drain the cauliflower and place onto a kitchen towel to cool for 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.

While the cauliflower/chicken cook, heat the olive oil up in a large, high-sided pan on medium heat. Add in the garlic, onion, and taco seasoning and cook until lightly golden brown, stirring frequently, or about 3-5 minutes.

Add in the can of enchilada sauce and bring to a boil, boiling for 1 minute. Reduce the heat down to medium and simmer until the sauce is reduced and thick, about 7 minutes.

Once the cauliflower is cool enough to handle, wrap it up in the kitchen towel and wring out as much of the water as possible. Really put some muscle into this because you don't want a soggy casserole! I like to do this twice, using 2 towels, to really get out the water!

Place the cauliflower into a large food processor, along with the egg, egg white, salt and a generous pinch of pepper. Add in the enchilada sauce mixture and process until the mixture is smooth. Transfer into a large bowl.

Shred the cooked chicken and add it into the bowl, along with the green chiles, stirring until well mixed.

Transfer into the prepared pan and cover with tinfoil. Cook for 30 minutes, and then remove the tinfoil and cook for another 30-40 minutes, or until the casserole feels set and the sides are lightly browned. Sprinkle with the cheese and cook and additional couple minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Cover the casserole to keep it warm and let it sit for 10 minutes, so it absorbs some of the excess moisture. Then, slice and serve.

Sprinkle with cilantro, tomatoes, avocado and DEVOUR.

Recipe Notes

*If you're sensitive to salt, or if your taco seasoning is super salty, you might want to use a little bit less. I thought this was perfect, but I like a lot of salt 🙂

THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY MY FRIENDS AT DANSKIN NOW. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO CONTINUE CREATING GREAT CONTENT FOR YOU BY SUPPORTING PARTNERSHIPS WITH SUPER-FAB BRANDS THAT FOOD FAITH FITNESS LOVES TO WORK WITH! AS ALWAYS, OPINIONS REMAIN 100% MY OWN!

This is a gorgeous casserole. I need to eat like you so I can slip into that Danskin outfit. K has some of their bras. She needs ones that won’t rub because she’s in the military. Her clothes get a workout, to say the least. Their sports bras work great, no tugging or pulling.

I really can’t tell you for sure as I never did this, but I don’t see why not! I don’t think it would be good in the fridge for more than 5 days though. I am not sure about the process – just the microwave or oven, whatever you prefer!